Elderly Dog Barking at Night

[wakeful]

Since I moved house in November my elderly Golden Retriever has been barking at night, the problem is getting worse. I have moved from a detached to a semi detached house and he is now waking me up and potentially my elderly neighbours (although they haven't complained) at least twice every night somewhere between 2am and 5am. There are a number of things that have changed for him since the move, he is no longer able to get upstairs as the stairs are steeper and he would normally have slept on the landing at our old house. He had a couple of nasty falls and I had to put a stairgate across to keep him downstairs. He did used to sleep in the hall sometimes at our old house, but that proved to be a problem here as he started to bark at people going to work from 5am onwards as it is a busier area.

I got him a really comfortable bed and put him in the kitchen with the cat and they seemed to be fairly happy with this arrangement and the barking seemed to be some time after 6am which I presumed might be him needing to go out a little earlier due to his age.

Twice a night at the times that he is now waking up is not something I can keep coping with though, and I can't see anyway that we can go on like this. He is almost 13 and is on Metacam for his arthritis,and the vet believes he has some kind of neurological issue with his spine, we have agreed that he will only have his Metacam, the vet feels as I do that it would not really be in his interest to pursue any issues further at his age. He is not able to go for a walk, but enjoys pottering in the garden and his dinner and lots of fuss and my vet feels that while that is the case we are fine to go on.

We love him dearly, but this barking is just beyond a joke, I have had dogs for 25 years and although one of them lived to be 16 I have never had this problem before. I would be grateful for any thoughts and suggestions from anyone who has more experience.

Bump, please, any advice welcome

I don't know....is he a bit senile??

Does he want to go out when he barks or is it just for attention?

Could he come up the stairs to the landing at night, or would he wander? Maybe a stair gate to stop him do the stairs unattended...you can escort him up and down as if you do not have enough to do

Do you leave a radio on for him??...I always do, and I even leave the TV on for Keller if I go out in the day

I would want to know what he is like if he slept with you as he used to. So if he can't get upstairs would it be possible for you to sleep downstairs and see if this stops the problem. I am not suggesting you stay downstairs forever just see if his problem is being alone after sleeping with you before.

At least it would give you an idea of what solutions to try.

someone must do stairlifts for dogs!?

He hasn't actually ever slept in my room, he always preferred to be on the landing. He doesn't seem to need to go out, I think it is just the attention which he has never had at night really. My DS1 is home from uni at the moment and he did used to take him in his room sometimes, and I am wondering if that has made him more unsettled. There really is no way of me sleeping downstairs, I have a bad back and sleep very lightly even on a Tempur mattress. He really can't get up the stairs even with help, he nearly fell down the other night when one of the children left the stair gate open and even with help was terrified of going down again. I couldn't really put him through that on a daily basis This is the main problem I have, there are many factors and none of them seem to be things that I can change

Did he bark when he slept with your son?

Firstly I'd check with your neighbours if they can hear him - if they can't then that's one thing less to worry about, if they can then at least they'll know you're trying to find a solution.

I'm afraid my experience of this is that our dog started nighttime barking when he was 11 - we thought it was just attention seeking. He seemed perfectly fit and healthy. Then one night when DH went down after a particularly insistent barking fit the poor dog dropped dead. I suppose he was feeling poorly - the tragic thing was he was due his annual checkup the next week, that might have picked up some problem.

It sounds like your vet is involved, just checking s/he knows about the barking?

Given this, and that you probably can't lug an elderly retriever upstairs, I'd be doing what minimu suggests.

He didn't bark when he was in my son's room until the morning when he needed to go out, my son sleeps very heavily and didn't hear him. My son has been coming in very late as he is seeing friends, and I suppose that might disturb the dog and be another factor that has made matters worse.

I work with small children and go back to work next week, I need my sleep and really cannot sleep downstairs because of my back. I think it would be a good idea to speak to the neighbours and the vet hasn't seen him since just before we moved so the barking is a new issue, he is due his vaccination soon so perhaps a chat with the vet might be a good idea too.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I think I would go back to the ideas that can be used for settling puppies.

Older dogs do get "confused" and a visit to the vet is a really good idea.

How about a ticking clock and as someone else suggested a radio on. You can get heat pads it could be that he is getting cold. Also if he is on metacam it may be that he is uncomforatble after lying down for most of the night and the pain wakes him so obviously the vet could help with that.

Maybe a bed specially for older dogs may help.

It is a killer having disturbed sleep and I do feel for you. Do let us know what the vet says.

Make sure dd ( yes I use it for that too) is warm and safe and comfy, just as you would a new puppy. As you can't bring him upstairs easily, put an old jersey or nightie of yours in his bed and leave the radio on (this is a very good siggestion) as his hearing may be failing, leading to hyper-vigilance, esp during the night. This added to the new place is prob v disorientating for an elderly boy.

It could be he is half hearing sounds he doesn't understand from next door - eg elderly neighbours getting up for a wee - and can half hear them, doesn't understand them and is therefore doing his best to warn you of what he sees as a potential threat.

Let us know how it goes anf give him a gentle stroke from me.

I think there's been some very good advise offered here........helps me look out for signs with my Basset boy who's 8. (their life expectancy is 8-12)
I'd be very interested to see/hear how you're getting on with him and what the vet says/suggests.
A problem for one person can help so many others who are watching, gain info from it.
I have such a soft spot for retrievers and really would like to have one, one day, so hope you can keep your darling going for soo much longer, happy and pain free. loads of love and strokes to him, and of course to you 2.

Thanks everyone for all your good wishes, we have had 2 nights of uninterrupted sleep thanks to DS1 spending the night elsewhere! I think the dog was getting upset because he couldn't go upstairs with him. We were totally bark free last night and the night before he only barked at around 7 to go out when he heard everyone getting up. I will be taking him to the vet for a check up soon anyway as he is due his vaccination in about 3 weeks, so will certainly mention it and pass on any suggestions/advice if it might help anyone else. I am hoping that with DS1 going back to uni next week we might continue to have some peaceful nights. Thanks again.

Good news